Croatia coach Mirko Jozic today promised Italy the fight of their lives in the crunch Group G clash in Ibaraki.

The Croatians go into tomorrow's showdown knowing that defeat will mean an early journey home.

Jozic's side looked a pale shadow of the side which reached the semi-finals four years ago in France when they went down to a 1-0 defeat to Mexico in their opening match in Niigata.

And with Italy and Ecuador to come, Croatia face a difficult task if they are to reach the last 16.

However, a defiant Jozic said: "We have lost the battle but not the war.

"Of course, it is a psychological blow to lose your first match.

"But it is now up to the players to get over the shock of this defeat and we will have all guns blazing against Italy.

"It is a match we need to win and that will be our target."

Jozic's men now turn their attention to the Italians, knowing a defeat will almost certainly mean a quick return home.

Jozic is again expected to pin his hopes on his 30-plus strikeforce of Boro's Alen Boksic and Davor Suker, even though the duo made little impact against Mexico.

But Boksic in particular knows Italian defenders well and will be looking to improve on his dismal opening effort, which led to him being substituted against Mexico.

Croatia will be without Bayer Leverkusen's Boris Zivkovic, who was sent off after bringing down Cuauhtemoc Blanco inside the area, which led to Mexico's winning penalty.

Maybe Croatia's best hope lies with the fact that Italy are already being touted as World Cup winners.

It increases the possibility of over-confidence creeping in.

However, Italy captain Paolo Maldini has stressed that the Azzurri are again building their World Cup challenge on a solid defence, even though it was striker Christian Vieri who earned the plaudits in their 2-0 win over Ecuador.

With Fabio Cannavaro, Alessandro Nesta and Christian Panucci alongside Maldini, the AC Milan left-back believes that will give Italy a great base in their bid for a record-equalling fourth world crown.

He said: "We were solid against Ecuador, we have always been solid and hopefully we will be solid for the entire World Cup.

"If we concentrate in our next two games I think we will go through the first round and after that we will see."

However, Maldini is glad he does not have the selection headaches of coach Giovanni Trapattoni.

The likes of Italy golden boy Alessandro Del Piero and Milan striker Filippo Inzaghi were unable to force their way into the starting line-up against Ecuador.

Trapattoni's decision to pair Vieri and Roma captain Francesco Totti in attack paid off, but it will be interesting to see if he makes changes tomorrow.

Maldini, who is playing in his last World Cup, said: "It is a problem for the coach, but it is not my problem. I just prefer to play with great players."

The 63-year-old coach has admitted he will look at all the players' fitness over the coming days before deciding whether to rotate his squad.

He said: "It is obvious that I have to rest some players.

"It is very important to keep them all in good condition for the coming weeks."